Impeachment: I’m ready to appear before probe panel – Al-Makura

The Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Al-Makura, has said he will appear before the seven-man panel of enquiry set up by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Umaru Dikko, to investigate him.

The state House of Assembly had asked the Chief Judge to set up the panel to probe into allegations of mismanagement against the governor as part of the process to impeach him.

A Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Adulhameed Kwarra, said this, in an interview on Saturday.

Kwarra, the only person mandated by the governor to speak to the press, however, urged the panel to, “as a matter of transparency,” follow the dictates of the law as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.”

Meanwhile, Justice Dikko has said the embattled governor could either appear before the panel or send a representative to defend his “gross misconduct, financial impropriety and breach of oath of office” allegations.

The Chief Justice said this while inaugurating the panel in Lafia, the state capital.

Quoting what the Constitution says about the process, he said, “The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this Section 188 shall have the right to defend himself in person or be represented before the panel by a legal practitioner of his choice,

According to Dikko, if the panel presents its report to the Assembly and the allegations are not proven, there will be no further process in respect of the matter.

“Gross misconduct means a great violation or breach of the provisions of the Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the House of Assembly to gross misconduct,” he added.